FATHER’S PLEA OVER KILLING
FAMILY WANTS ANSWERS FOUR YEARS AFTER HOTEL MURDER
THE father of a man executed in a midnight ambush on Tasmania’s remote West Coast has broken his silence over the “mongrel act”.
Simon Crisp, 44, was gunned down outside the Marrawah Tavern after it had closed for the night on July 13, 2013. Four years on, the murder remains unsolved.
Simon’s father, Albert Crisp, has urged police to “keep going” and bring his son’s killer to justice.
“I’m not really happy [it’s not solved] but it is one of those things. It’s just waiting to catch up with them,” he said. “It was just a gutless thing to do — shoot a man in the back three times.
“You don’t do that to a dog do you? To do that, you have to be a mongrel.”
Mr Crisp said he was left shattered by his son’s brutal killing.
“It was a hell of a shock, a thing like that,” he said.
Mystery surrounds the murder which shook Marrawah’s small, but close knit, rural community.
No solid motives have emerged and police appear no closer to closing the case.
As he often did, Simon Crisp, a dog catcher for the WaratahWynyard and Circular Head councils, had gone to the tavern to help his then-partner close the pub.
After a busy night, Allison Summers had managed to get the last customer out by 11.50pm.
Her young daughter was sleeping by the tavern’s fire, waiting for the couple to finish up so they could prepare for their holiday to Western Australia the next day.
Simon went to empty the rubbish at the rear of the tavern.
He never came back. Instead, he was shot and killed by a gunman lying in wait, police believe. Ms Summers, who was inside cleaning when the three fatal shots rang out, still lives with the trauma and suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It’s a nightmare I live with every day,” she said yesterday.
“I’ll always be waiting for justice for Simon.”
Like police, Ms Summers believes those behind the murder live in the area.
“Absolutely. I believe there was local involvement,” she said.
“This has been one thing that plays on my mind as people knew my 10-year-old daughter was at work with me and as a result she is still suffering also.
“I would implore any person with the slightest piece of information to share, even if it’s anonymously, as I understand they could be scared. Just speak up.”
Burnie CIB Inspector Rob Gunton said the investigation remained active, with a $50,000 reward on offer for information about the murder.
“His family and loved ones deserve to know that the person or people responsible have been brought to justice,” he said.
It’s a nightmare I live with every day ... I’ll always be waiting for justice for Simon — ALLISON SUMMERS